1. Field
Subject matter disclosed herein relates to a user-switchable error correction coding (ECC) engine residing on a memory die.
2. Information
Memory systems are employed in many types of electronic devices, such as computers, cell phones, PDA's, data loggers, and navigational equipment, just to name a few examples. Among such electronic devices, various types of nonvolatile memory systems may be employed, such as NAND or NOR flash memories, SRAM, DRAM, and phase-change memory, just to name a few examples. In general, writing or programming processes may be used to store information in such memory systems, while a read process may be used to retrieve stored information.
Such nonvolatile memory systems may comprise memory cells that slowly deteriorate over time, leading to an increasing probability that a read and/or write error may occur upon accessing such a memory cell. Accordingly, an error correction process may be employed to correct such errors as they occur. For example, an error correction coding (ECC) engine may be employed in a memory system in order to correct errors generated in the memory system. Typically, such an ECC engine may be limited in its ability to correct errors. If a number of errors occurs beyond such a capability, then an ECC engine may itself produce errors, thereby adding to the number of errors generated by the memory system.